“I still have a little problem with the film”: Quentin Tarantino Blames Unfair Critics For Johnny Depp’s Biggest Flop But Admits One Mistake in the Movie
The highly acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino needs no introduction to the world of entertainment. With his critically acclaimed projects like Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, Reservoir Dogs, and Django Unchained the director has already proved his brilliance.
The director is known for his straightforward nature in Hollywood. From talking about the prevalence of AI in Hollywood to supporting his favorite actor-Quentin Tarantino never shies away from speaking his mind.
Quentin Tarantino Blames Critics For The Failure Of Johnny Depp’s The Lone Ranger
Johnny Depp and Call Me By Your Name star Armie Hammer came together for the 2013 release The Lone Ranger. In the adventure drama, Johnny Depp was seen playing the character of a Native American Tonto. The movie was not received well by the audience. During an interview with Les Inrockuptibles via IndieWire in 2013, Quentin Tarantino spoke in favor of the Johnny Depp movie and even mentioned that the movie started off on a very promising note, but believes that it was brutally criticized by the critics. He said-
“The first forty-five minutes are excellent. The next forty-five minutes are a little soporific. It was a bad idea to split the bad guys into two groups; it takes hours to explain and nobody cares. Then comes the train scene—incredible! When I saw it, I kept thinking, ‘What, that’s the film that everybody says is crap? Seriously?’”
While talking about the only mistake he witnessed with the movie, he further added-
“That being said, I still have a little problem with the film. I like Tonto’s backstory—the idea that his tribe got slaughtered because of him; that’s a real comic-book thing. But the slaughter of the tribe, by gunfire, from the cavalry, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. The Indians have really been victims of genocide. So slaughtering them again in an entertaining movie, Buster Keaton style… That ruined the fun a bit for me. I simply found it…ugly.”
The Gore Verbinski-directed adventure drama received negative reviews and a lukewarm audience reception which directly affected its box office numbers. The Lone Ranger went on to gross $260.5 million against an estimated budget of $225-$250 million.
Quentin Tarantino On His Dream Of Working With Johnny Depp
Quentin Tarantino’s out-of-the-box storytelling has been the biggest draw behind his projects. The 60-year-old American filmmaker is a huge fan of The Rum Diary star. Unfortunately, they haven’t collaborated on a project as of now, but during an interview with chat show host Charlie Rose via Indie Wire in 2012, the Pulp Fiction director spoke about his dream of working with Johnny Depp. He said
“We would love to work together. We’ve talked about it for years. Not that we get together and talk about it for years, but from time to time. We’re obviously fans of each other. It just needs to be the right character. I just need to write the right character I think Johnny would be the right guy to do it with. And if he agrees, then we’ll do it.”
Due to the defamation trial with his ex-wife actor Amber Heard, Johnny Depp’s acting career had taken a backseat and his public image was painted in a negative light. The verdict was given in favor of the Alice In Wonderland actor. He made a comeback during the Cannes Film Festival with Jeanne Du Barry in May 2023.
The Lone Ranger is currently available on Apple TV+
Source: Les Inrockuptibles via IndieWire
